MLB approves padded caps for pitcher safety

Major League Baseball, in a move to make its product safer, has approved the use of a protective cap for pitchers.

The goal is to reduce the damage from line drives to the head, which have resulted in several scary scenes over the last few years.

“It’s just a matter of time before somebody is going to get hit a half an inch lower or a half an inch to the left or right and it’s really going to mess somebody up,” said Astros pitcher Scott Feldman. “It’s just a matter of time before somebody gets a really bad injury and has brain damage or even worse.”

The padded caps, which will be available to pitchers in spring training next month, will be bigger and heavier than normal baseball caps.

“I’m not sure I’m going to wear one or not,” Feldman said. “I’m going to look into it more. I think it’s a great thing to take a step to have something as an option to wear to feel safer.”
Several pitchers have been hit in the head by line drives in recent seasons. Brandon McCarthy, then with Oakland, sustained a brain contusion and skull fracture after being struck in 2012, and Detroit’s Doug Fister was hit during the World Series that October.

Toronto’s J.A. Happ and Tampa Bay’s Alex Cobb were sidelined after being hit last year.

Astros reliever Kevin Chapman knows the impact a line drive can have. While at the University of Florida in 2010, he was in the third-base dugout when a foul ball ricocheted off his head and onto the field.

“I had tests for concussion symptoms for the next couple of days, and it determined I didn’t have one,” Chapman said. “But it hurt pretty hard, I’ll tell you that.

“It’s one of those things that you can’t really control and don’t want to think about it. I’m interested to see how much protection that actually offers. It’ll be interesting to see the pros and cons.”

The safety plates made by isoBLOX are sewn into the hat and custom-fitted. They weigh an extra six to seven ounces — a baseball weighs about five ounces, by comparison — and offer protection to the forehead, temples and sides of the head. They’ll make the hats about a half-inch thicker in the front and around an inch wider on the sides.

Bruce Foster, CEO of the parent company of isoBLOX, told the Associated Press that the cap was tested to provide protection from line drives up to 90 mph in the front of the head and 85 mph on the side.

McCarthy tweeted that he had already tried out the fortified cap and that it was “headed in the right direction but not game ready.”

The new caps will be optional. Chapman vows to try one in spring training, but before deciding if he’ll pitch in one, he’ll first see how it feels when he’s playing catch in the outfield.

“For me, it’s something that if it causes any discomfort — I don’t know,” he said. “Pitching is something that if it’s something that distracts you, then you have to make adjustments along the way.

“Right now, it’s not mandatory. It’s just optional. I think that there will be an opportunity to try it out in spring training just wearing it while you’re playing catch or whatever. For me, if it’s any heavier and it’s going to make a difference, it just depends on the comfort.”

MLB didn’t make the use of helmets or protective cap inserts mandatory for batters until the National League required them for the 1956 season. Helmets weren’t required until the 1971 season, and even then, they weren’t mandatory for players already in the big leagues. An earflap on the side of the head facing the pitcher was required for new players starting in 1983.